Side Story #1 - Colt - Page 6

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Colt decided to ask a relevant question. "Has he been around kids a lot?"

"No, I don't think so," said Janet. "Heh. Look at him. Brick's not accustomed to receiving so much attention. He doesn't know what to do with himself. So adorable."

To Colt's eyes, Brick looked more like he would rather be anywhere but here.

Eventually, Janet got around to asking Colt the familiar questions of where he was from, why she hadn't seen him around before, how long he was planning to stay, and so on. He managed to stay cordial with her and even smile--hopefully sincerely--until she finally seemed to be running out of things to say.

He had a topic of his own now, though. "I ran into the sheriff earlier today. You wouldn't happen to be related to him, would you?"

"Oh, Rex?" she said. "No, no. Great guy, though. A real gentleman. What made you think I might be related to him?"

"It's just, in a town this small, I can't imagine there being too many people here who can train a police dog." He glanced at Brick, who was giving him the stink eye again, despite Thomas' and now also Stephanie's attempts to gain the animal's attention.

"Like I said, my uncle was the one who trained him." She scratched behind Brick's ear. "My uncle lives in the city. Brick is just visiting me for a while."

Ah, so Orden really didn't have its own K-9 unit after all. That made more sense.

"Well--okay, officially, he's on loan to the sheriff's department, but, uh--" Janet's smile seemed to dissipate briefly before she found it again. "He's staying with me, is all. Um. A-anyway, it was nice to meet you."

Had that been a touchy subject? If so, Colt couldn't imagine why. "You, too," he said.

"C'mon, Brick." She tugged on his leash, and Brick followed her as she walked away.

Colt had to hold the twins back so that they didn't go chasing after the dog. Thankfully, they soon found distraction with their toys again.

He was glad that they seemed to be enjoying their little day in the park. They deserved more fun in their lives.

As for himself, though, the longer he spent here, the more out of place he began to feel. He thought he was accustomed to feeling like he didn't belong, but this was a whole new level of discomfort for him. He was just lying there on a brightly-colored blanket while the sun was shining and watching the passersby, trying not to think about how each and every one of them was a potential threat whom he might have to kill one day. And this damn park's layout. So open. So exposed. How could anyone realistically feel safe here? How could everyone here look so carefree?

And yet, at the same time, he knew that it was his thinking that was wrong--or at least, inappropriate in this context.

Which was why this wasn't a place for people like him.

But then, no place really was, he supposed.

After a few hours, he could bear it no longer. He didn't feel like he'd succeeded in his goal of meeting new people today, but fuck it. He'd tried, hadn't he? And there was always tomorrow. He just wanted to get back to his cabin already. He gathered the kids and picnicking gear up and returned to the car.

As they were en route, however, he had a slight change of heart and decided to drive around the rest of the town for a while. He hadn't been using the car much recently, and the kids seemed to be enjoying the ride.

He caught sight of perhaps the only real tourist attraction that Orden had to offer: the MMS Ringhorn.

It was an old wooden ship, originally belonging to the Melmoorian Military Service, but now it belonged to Snider, for some reason. Colt wasn't too clear on the historical details, but he knew enough to know that there was quite a bit mystery surrounding it.

Probably because half the ship was buried in the ground. The bow of the Ringhorn jutted out diagonally, high up into the air, and if one weren't paying attention, the ship's massive body might've just seemed like an oddly shaped building. The town hadn't even preserved all that much space around it. There was a liquor store standing right next to it, and a laundromat on the other side.

Colt didn't stop to admire it, though. He doubted the kids would be interested in it, and he wasn't really the sightseeing type, anyway.

By the time they finally made it back to the cabin, twilight was beginning to arrive. The twins were napping, so he tried to be extra gentle when carrying them inside, but they still woke up. Oh well. They needed to eat dinner, anyway.

He stepped out to hunt something down real quick. He would've liked to go fishing, but that could take a while, and it was already getting pretty late. Hunting, comparatively, could take even longer, depending on what he was going for, but he wasn't being picky. His small game traps were still empty, but that was fine. He found a big snake and decided that would do. The fucker almost bit him, but he blew its head off with his destruction power. Then he found some fresh blueberries, and dinner was pretty much ready, after a nice roast over an open campfire.

Briefly, he wondered if he was teaching the kids to have strange eating habits.

Well, as long as they were healthy, he supposed it didn't matter.

After some diaper changes, chopping more firewood, and a bit of tinkering around the cabin, he eventually settled down and went to sleep with the twins snuggled up next to him.

He kept waking up throughout the night, but not because of discomfort or restlessness, exactly. He would get up and check the perimeter, check on the kids, hold them or feed them if they were crying, maybe try to burp them or change their diapers if they needed it. And then maybe check the perimeter one more time before going back to sleep.

It was all such a force of habit for him at this point, that he wasn't entirely sure he was awake half the time. For all he could tell, he might've very well been sleepwalking.

But in the end, it was just another normal night, like any other during these last few months. And that was perfectly fine with him.

Usually, he awoke at dawn without even trying, because he liked to hunt in the early morning.

But today was different.

Today, he was awoken to the familiarly soundless voice of Bohwanox.

'Uh, Colt?'

The sun hadn't even come up yet, he noticed. And the reaper wasn't anywhere to be seen, either. 'What?'

There arrived a sizable pause. 'You mentioned that you were planning to go into town yesterday, didn't you?'

'Yeah, what of it?'

'Hmm. I'm gonna ask you a question now, and I want you to be honest with me, okay? I'm sure you might be tempted to lie, but just tell me the truth, and we can work through this together.'

'Just tell me.'

'Okay. Um. You didn't... happen to... murder anyone while you were in town, did you?'

Colt sat up. 'Excuse me?'

'I'm going to need a hard yes or no on this one, pal.'

'No, I did not murder anyone.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes, I'm sure!' He'd thought about it, but that didn't count, right?

'Yeah, okay, but how sure can you be, really?'

'Bohwanox. Why are you asking me this, right now?'

'Well, because at this very moment, I am in Orden, and I'm looking at a dead guy.'



~ Part Two ~ 
A Disturbed Peace

Colt rubbed his forehead, thinking. 'Who is it? Do you know?'

'It's the sheriff,' said Bohwanox. 'Rexford Margot.'

'Oh, fucking wonderful...'

'You're SUPER sure you didn't kill him?'

'Yes!' A beat passed. 'But I did meet him yesterday.'

'Oh? And how did that go?'

'Fine, I thought. He seemed like kind of a weird idiot, but other than that, I didn't think it was especially noteworthy.'

'Hmm.'

A thought occurred to him. 'Wait a minute. Can't you just grab his soul and ask him who killed him?'

'Already did. He doesn't know.'

'How could he not know?'

'The last he can recall, he was asleep.'

Colt sighed. 'You didn't reap him already, did you?'

'Not yet. But judging from the current state of his soul, he'd already been dead for a few hours, so I've only got about ten-to-fifteen hours before I need to do so.'

Colt was on his feet. 'Alright, describe the state you found his body in.'

'Hanging from a rope in his living room.'

Huh.

Colt felt compelled to ask the obvious question. 'And he doesn't remember hanging himself?'

'Sure doesn't.'

'Shit.'

'Technically, he could just have amnesia. It's not uncommon for people to forget their final moments.'

'So you're telling me, he forgot waking up after going to sleep, getting a rope and probably a stool, tying a noose, and fucking hanging himself?'

'I'll admit, it sounds unlikely.'

'Does he remember WHY he would've killed himself?'

'Hang on, I'll ask.' There was another, significantly longer pause. 'Nope. Said he would never do such a thing. Started swearing me out. Thanks for that, by the way.'

Colt was looking for his coat. 'How did you even find the body?'

'I heard about an incident in Orden while I was eavesdropping on the police in Lagoroc. Followed it here.'

'So there are a bunch of cops from the capital with you at the sheriff's house, right now?'

'Yep.'

That gave Colt pause. He'd just found his coat and was suddenly wondering why the hell he'd even been looking for it in the first place. Had he actually been planning to go over to the sheriff's house and inspect the crime scene himself?

That would've been an absolutely moronic thing to do. What was wrong with him?

He sat down in a wooden chair by the front door, reevaluating everything he had been doing and thinking just now.

For a second, he'd felt like a cop again, like Boh had just called him up on his phone and told him about a new case that needed investigating.

And he'd all but jumped on it, hadn't he?

What a dumbass he was being.

'Colt?' came Boh's voice again. 'Everything okay over there?'

He needed to consider his words more carefully from now on. 'Yeah. Fine.'

Another period of silence arrived, this one more awkward than the last.

'Got any more questions for me?' said Bohwanox.

He sure did. But he stopped himself. 'Are you asking me if I'm going to investigate his death?'

'The thought had crossed my mind, yes.'

'Why? What happened to your neutrality?'

'Still perfectly intact, thank you very much. If you don't want to dig any deeper into this, then I'm not gonna try to force you.'

Colt chose not to respond to that and allowed the silence return.

'I'm just a humble reaper. Not concerned about the affairs of the living world.'

Still, Colt said nothing.

'And you're just a regular guy. With two kids. Who lives in the woods. And kills wolves with bare hands.'

Colt's expression soured. 'You're implying I have some sort of responsibility here.'

'No, no, I'm just stating the facts. Believe me, I wasn't thinking of getting involved, either. Hell, I'm not even sure why I brought it up. I just, y'know, was slightly concerned that you might've been the killer, but now that I'm convinced that you're not, we can drop it. This doesn't concern us, right?'

More silence.

'...Right?' repeated Bohwanox.

Still more silence.

Colt was hesitating. 'Uh...'

'Hmm? You say something?'

He scratched his brow. 'No, it's just...' Agh, what was he doing?

'Yeah? It's just, what?'

'It's just, you know, if there's a murderer on the loose in Orden, then... they might pose a danger to my kids.'

'Oh! Right! Yeah! That's a good point, isn't it? Mm. Yeah. So maybe we should, uh--y'know, er...'

'Maybe we should what?'

'No, just, um. Y'know. Maybe... investigate a little deeper?'

Colt felt himself nodding. 'Just to make sure Thomas and Stephanie aren't going to be in any danger.'

'Yes. Exactly. Right. Just to make one hundred percent certain that this case isn't relevant to us at all. Makes perfect sense.'

'Yeah.'

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These Side Story pages are released each week on Sunday at 6 pm EST.
However, they are released four weeks earlier over on Patreon, along with many extra pages of the main story.
Thanks for reading, everyone.